Traffic Light Sex
Just a little something light and playful for a Friday....
Curator of Sex |
an exploration of sex and gender in media, art, science and culture |
The Big Wet Shiney Boobies, Copenhagen 2008
From Vibskov's website: The name Henrik Vibskov is most commonly associated not only with a fashion label, but a multitude of twisted yet tantalizing universes created in relation to each collection. “The Big Wet Shiny Boobies”, “The Land of the Black Carrots”, “The Solar Donkey Experiment”, “The Slippery Spiral Situation” and “The Fantabulous Bicycle Music Factory” are just a few titles of shows Henrik Vibskov has produced lately, each title referring to a different but equally mesmerizing world and set of logic...As a fashion designer Henrik Vibskov has produced twenty collections since he graduated from Central St. Martin’s in 2001, and he is currently the only Scandinavian designer on the official show schedule of the Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which he has been since January 2003...Between designing new collections biannually and creating the universes surrounding them, Henrik keeps himself occupied touring as the drummer for electronic musician Trentemøller, and exhibiting at art museums and galleries around the world. Henrik has made exhibitions at PS1 – MoMA in New York, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Akira Ikeda Gallery in Nagoya, Sothebys Gallery in New York, ICA in London, Zeeuws Museum in Holland and Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris, in collaboration with Elmgreen & Dragset, just to name a few.
This morning I read a Global Post article about a prolific sperm donor, Ed Houden, who sells his "private sperm donor services" via his own website rather than through the tradition sperm donation routes (he is 42 years old and too old to donate through clinics). Based on his own record keeping, Houden believes he is 80% successful in impregnating women, which he attributes to his sperm count of "more than 100 million per milliliter of ejaculate," which has resulted in the birth of 82 children, a figure that is constantly growing. His personal states continues: he is HIV negative, Chlamydia free and lost his virginity at the age of 34. To learn more about Ed: http://www.edhouben.eu/EdHoubenE/Index.htm and to read the full article: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/wanderlust/volunteer-sperm-donor-82-children-and-still-going-strong
But its seems Houden is not alone in his incredible number of offspring...while identifying information beyond a donor number may not be accessible in most traditional cases of sperm donation, this serial number of sorts can be used to help identify the number of half siblings you or your child may have out in the world. In some cases this number can hover around 50, and one exceptional large group consisted of 150. According to a New York Times article on the topic, "Now, there is growing concern among parents, donors and medical experts about potential negative consequences of having so many children fathered by the same donors, including the possibility that genes for rare disease could be spread more widely through the population. Some experts are even calling attention to the increased odds of accidental incest between half sisters and have brothers, who often live close to one another." Because of many of these questions, there has been a growing call for regulation of the industry, but the debates continue. To read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06donor.html?pagewanted=all
And in other cases, the number of offspring is clouded by secrecy and scandal as in the case of Bertold Wiesner who owned a fertility clinic in London in the 1940s and is responsible for approximately 600 babies who were conceived using his own sperm. Today, this practice is outlawed and legislation in Britain limits a donor to the creation of up to 10 families (does not limit for multiple sibling options). To learn more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9193014/British-man-fathered-600-children-at-own-fertility-clinic.html
Nipple Painting below...
I love this idea...text below taken from Pamela Haag's blog "Marriage 3.0" on Big Think http://bigthink.com/ideas/41152 You must check it out!!
Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego): The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start.
Oh yes, this is an exquisite word, compressing a thrilling and scary relationship moment. It’s that delicious, cusp-y moment of imminent seduction. Neither of you has mustered the courage to make a move, yet. Hands haven’t been placed on knees; you’ve not kissed. But you’ve both conveyed enough to know that it willhappen soon… very soon.
Yuanfen (Chinese): A relationship by fate or destiny. This is a complex concept. It draws on principles of predetermination in Chinese culture, which dictate relationships, encounters and affinities, mostly among lovers and friends.
From what I glean, in common usage yuanfen means the "binding force" that links two people together in any relationship.
But interestingly, “fate” isn’t the same thing as “destiny.” Even if lovers are fated to find each other they may not end up together. The proverb, “have fate without destiny,” describes couples who meet, but who don’t stay together, for whatever reason. It’s interesting, to distinguish in love between the fated and the destined. Romantic comedies, of course, confound the two.
Cafuné (Brazilian Portuguese): The act of tenderly running your fingers through someone's hair.
Retrouvailles (French): The happiness of meeting again after a long time.This is such a basic concept, and so familiar to the growing ranks of commuter relationships, or to a relationship of lovers, who see each other only periodically for intense bursts of pleasure. I’m surprised we don’t have any equivalent word for this subset of relationship bliss. It’s a handy one for modern life.
Ilunga (Bantu): A person who is willing to forgive abuse the first time; tolerate it the second time, but never a third time.
Apparently, in 2004, this word won the award as the world’s most difficult to translate. Although at first, I thought it did have a clear phrase equivalent in English: It’s the “three strikes and you’re out” policy. But ilunga conveys a subtler concept, because the feelings are different with each “strike.” The word elegantly conveys the progression toward intolerance, and the different shades of emotion that we feel at each stop along the way.
Ilunga captures what I’ve described as the shade of gray complexity in marriages—Not abusive marriages, but marriages that involve infidelity, for example. We’ve got tolerance, within reason, and we’ve got gradations of tolerance, and for different reasons. And then, we have our limit. The English language to describe this state of limits and tolerance flattens out the complexity into black and white, or binary code. You put up with it, or you don’t. You “stick it out,” or not.Ilunga restores the gray scale, where many of us at least occasionally find ourselves in relationships, trying to love imperfect people who’ve failed us and whom we ourselves have failed.
La Douleur Exquise (French): The heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can’t have.
When I came across this word I thought of “unrequited” love. It’s not quite the same, though. “Unrequited love” describes a relationship state, but not a state of mind. Unrequited love encompasses the lover who isn’t reciprocating, as well as the lover who desires. La douleur exquise gets at the emotional heartache, specifically, of being the one whose love is unreciprocated.
Koi No Yokan (Japanese): The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love.
This is different than “love at first sight,” since it implies that you might have a sense of imminent love, somewhere down the road, without yet feeling it. The term captures the intimation of inevitable love in the future, rather than the instant attraction implied by love at first sight.
Ya’aburnee (Arabic): “You bury me.” It’s a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person, because of how difficult it would be to live without them.
The online dictionary that lists this word calls it “morbid and beautiful.” It’s the “How Could I Live Without You?” slickly insincere cliché of dating, polished into a more earnest, poetic term.
Forelsket: (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you’re first falling in love.
This is a wonderful term for that blissful state, when all your senses are acute for the beloved, the pins and needles thrill of the novelty. There’s a phrase in English for this, but it’s clunky. It’s “New Relationship Energy,” or NRE.
Saudade (Portuguese): The feeling of longing for someone that you love and is lost. Another linguist describes it as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist."
It’s interesting that saudade accommodates in one word the haunting desire for a lost love, or for an imaginary, impossible, never-to-be-experienced love. Whether the object has been lost or will never exist, it feels the same to the seeker, and leaves her in the same place: She has a desire with no future. Saudade doesn’t distinguish between a ghost, and a fantasy. Nor do our broken hearts, much of the time.
Because facts are fun...regardless of how life altering they may or may not be...
Created by Cragin Design and Jess Andrews
While some people will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo with shots of tequila and margaritas...add your knowledge of Mexican Love Hotels into the mix...
Love hotels exist all over the world particularly in places where the young live at home until marriage, affairs are common but scandalous, homosexuality is not well accepted and where sexuality in general is a hidden topic of conversation due to societal conservatism. It isn't that people don't have sex in these places...they just need to be more creative about where and when they have it...in steps the love hotel.
While a hotel de paso or "pass through hotel" is a long held tradition in Mexico, in the last few years these destinations have experienced a facelift. Places such as V Motel Boutique Suites & Villas are making the tradition more overt and more fun, offering costumes and toys to guests, in addition to Jacuzzis, swings and transparent showers
And to learn more about what's cool on the Mexican sex scene, check out: http://www.welovesex.com.mx/
Our brains give away a lot of our secrets...a new brain scan can predict both the eating behaviors and level of sexual desire of a woman. A group of 48 female students at Dartmouth were asked to look at an assortment of images which including food and people engaged in sexual activities (among others) while they underwent functional magnetic resonance brain scans. Based on the activity of the nucleus accumbens (part of the brain thought to be tied to pleasure) scientists could predict who would not only gain weight over the next six months as well as an increased probability of having sex in the same time period.
Always nice to see when an artist takes a standard genre and gives it their own flare...in steps Hippolyte Hentgen introduced to me via Flavorwire
As the "Curator of Sex" I will be posting my daily explorations through the news pertaining to sex and gender. Every Sunday I will be posting a commentary on the weeks breaking news and events. With each posting I hope to continue the discourse regarding sex and sexuality, expand horizons and feature the rewards of merging education and entertainment. Since everyone loves talking about sex...welcome and enjoy!
Please share any sex and gender related news you come across at curatorofsex@gmail.com
